A classmate has commissioned me to build a model of the Hermes, as befitting of his thesis on the Falklands. I actually started the model in early May, and here're some photos of the progress to date.

Orange Hobby's kit is as amazing as everyone has said, not least as seen in the double-sided relief etching! The pre-etched foldlines for the PE railings are even more exceptional.

Note for other builders: bend towards the etched fold line, not away (i.e. valley fold, not mountain fold, for those who did paper airplanes)

But it is not without some (minor) gripes...1. Sea Cat missiles lack fins, though there are indents molded on for where they would go...(kinda glad, to be honest - it would certainly be a maddening exercise!)2. Harrier roundel decals only come in the mid-war style with the white painted out - thus the only accurate scheme would be if the Harriers are painted in overall boring dark sea grey. (I'm going to use the excuse of them being partway through painting to have both the blue-white body and the kit roundels, even though both were repainted at the same time, judging from photos). The extra Harrier pack also lacks decals.3. Life-raft canisters require shaving in order to fit into the bottom level of the PE raft racks. 4. Shape issue with the portside forward sponson. I'll try to point that out when I get there.5. Some mold-alignment mismatch leading to stepped seams on small parts that can be difficult to clean up.6. Painting guide shows the entire flat surface under the island to be black, but I've only ever seen the small strip next to the exhaust painted black. Likewise, the aft exhaust between the Sea Cat director and the LCVPs should have the immediate region painted black as well - check photos.7. Raised ridge around the edges of the aft elevator, both the elevator itself and the deck.

Holy crap an update! Bet you all forgot about this one. Did you know it's quicker to write a Master's thesis than it is to build a model aircraft carrier?

After a series of screw-ups with the flight deck, I think I finally got it fixed to an acceptable point.

Said screw-ups:1. don't thin Liquitex Acrylic Matte Varnish. It even says so on the bottle. It even says on the website that thinning is bad and may cause fogging. Just don't thin it. No matter how thick it is when applied.2. don't brush varnish with a paintbrush over top of your subtle and gently-applied pastel weathering3. don't do both 1 and 2 together. You will have fogging, unwanted streaks, and general chaos on your deck.4. Gonna try to fix it by masking off the ok parts and painting the rest with the original deck colour? Sure, if you want squares of odd colours all over it!

In the end, I dry-brushed some black throughout the deck, then smoothed it out with some pencil shavings rubbed all over with a paper towel, then sealing it again with the matte varnish (unthinned, this time!).

Pastels and brush work much better when streaking is desired, such as the hull sides, which was what I did.

Good job Timmy! I like how the flight deck markings are faded yet still visible, and the weathering gives that "just been to war" feel like in your reference pictures. Some time ago I was considering getting this kit myself although now I've embarked on a long-term project I don't want the distraction of a 1980s carrier, but I'd love to see this come together to completion.

Very nice rust and weathering! It looks very convincing and just like in the photographs of the real thing. And I agree, it is going to take me longer to finish my current build than what it took me to finish my dissertation...

Hi Timmy,Looks good so far. Did you end up using Gorilla glue to mount it to the board or did you use something else?The weathering looks good. Looks like a painting or photo i have in one of my books from when she was returning from the war all rusted up. Looking forward to see it done. And yes we forgot all about it.Good luck.

Thanks gents, glad to see it meets with your approval! I was "lucky" that the model is being portrayed with some war time effects, allowing me to go a bit harsher with the weathering to conceal the defects. Also helped to make up for the fact this is my first intensive weathering project!

Sirpaul: I haven't glued her down yet, but will soon, though trying to decide whether 'soon' will be before or after I'm done the port aft side of the hull details.

Just based on my own limited experience, it might be better to try and finish detailing any hull areas before cementing the kit to the base. You know, just so you don't end up having to perform dental surgery...

I am dating myself, but I remember that Newsweek cover when it came out.

_________________Martin

"Tomorrow is the most important thing in life. Comes into us at midnight very clean. It's perfect when it arrives and it puts itself in our hands. It hopes we've learned something from yesterday." John Wayne

With the hull done, I've started doing a bit more with the island - cut out and dry fitted all the major parts. Some seems on the horizontal surfaces and quite a bit of trimming had to be done for the pieces to fit into their slots, but nothing too major.

Yours looks great, Chris! I find it interesting how we approach it from opposite directions - yours with the island first, and mine from the hull. I mixed up the different lengths of chain for the port side landing craft, so I'm in a bit of a quandary as to what to do with them - just leave them off? Place them on the flight deck as though for repairs? Or try to fit them back on? Hmm.

Latest progress from last night: started adding PE to the island, beginning with the funnel. I'll probably regret this later, but I plan on painting the PE after they've all been attached - the aesthetic of all the shiny brass is too tempting to ignore!

Wish l had done it that way ,l sprayed my first,took a long long time to do Yes that hatch was the only piece left,l found another hatch missing,used one from my spares box,will post a photo,also there should be railings around the walk ways on the funnel which they missed,but that's the only item l found .